Ted Cruz's presidential campaign has produced his mother's birth certificate after Republican rivals suggested Cruz might not be eligible for the Oval Office because he was born outside the United States.
The campaign provided the certificate—showing his mother, then named Eleanor Darragh, was born in Delaware on November 23, 1934—to conservative news outlet Breitbart. The campaign's decision to release the birth certificate comes in response to a threat by Democratic U.S. Representative Alan Grayson of Florida to bring a lawsuit challenging Cruz's eligibility for the presidency if he becomes his party's nominee, an increasingly likely possibility.
As New York business mogul Donald Trump has pointed out repeatedly in the past week, Cruz was born in Calgary, Canada. The U.S. Constitution sets three requirements for presidential hopefuls: They must be 35 years old, have been a resident of the U.S. for 14 years and be a "natural-born citizen" of the United States. But the founders did not explicitly define what was meant by "natural-born citizen," which leaves room for debate.
But most constitutional scholars argue that anyone with at least one parent who was a U.S. citizen at the time of birth automatically inherits that parent's citizenship. Cruz has said that because his mother was a U.S. citizen when he was born, he is a natural-born citizen.
So to be clear here, President Obama, who WAS born in the United States, was pressured to provide his actual birth certificate to prove it, and yet the Right Wing refused to accept that as adequate proof.
And yet Ted Cruz, who actually WAS born in Canada, only has to provide his mother's birth certificate in order to prove he meets the requirements to be President?
Okay well I'm glad we straightened that out.
It was reported that his mother renounced her US Citizenship, and was eligible to vote in Canadian elections. I STILL think this Fugly MoFo is ineligible to run for the WH.
ReplyDeleteSeems crucial to know whether the mother cancelled her US citizenship before or after the birth of Ted.
DeleteYou're right. It's not the birth certificate. It's whether or not his parents were Canadian citizens when he was born.
DeleteWas that before or after he was born?
DeleteIf before, then yes, he never should have had dual citizenship and he would NOT be a U.S. citizen.
I think it may have happened after he was born. If he returned to the U.S. before he was 18 or 21 he would then retain his U.S. citizenship. At least that's the way it worked for my Mom.
Cruz's eligibility for the presidency if he becomes his party's nominee, an increasingly likely possibility.... Jolly good of the old fellow for getting on with it.
ReplyDeleteThose dern birth certificates! They can be such a sticky wicket.
It is time for Bristol Palin to have a little sit down time with Sean Penn. Let's get this little problem with the date of daughter Sailor's birth cleaned up. PRONTO! For her to have speedy and smoothe sailing to Kentucky and the necessaray DNA tests the state requires. We truly do not want to be reading about Sarah and her 'Affluenza' kid having hightailed it to Mexico.
Dakota Meyer wants to see Sailor, he believes she is his daughter and this is a crucial time for bonding. Precious.
https://malialitman.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/bristol-marina-with-sailor.jpg
Meyer, too, must be anxious to view Sailor's birth certificate and make certain there is no hanky panky. The baby deserves to have her biological father named on the correct legal documents. What man wants his child to be undocumented or any kind of monkey business?
http://gawker.com/el-chapo-confessed-his-crimes-to-sean-penn-in-a-se-1752048764
El Chapo on Donald Trump: "Mi Amigo!"
This is a way to have her DNA tested. If he gets custody he can have it done when she is with him and Bristol can't do a thing about it.
DeleteI warned this would be her undoing.
It is a brilliant strategy on Dakota's part. I didn't think he had it in him. Or he's just following someone else's game plan.
Either way, Bristol is screwed. She either gives Dakota joint custody or admits he is not the father.
However, it has also surfaced that both Cruz's parents were on Canadian voting lists and you have to be Canadian citizens to vote and have to swear allegiance to Canada to do so. So either mom gave up US citizenship or was/is a slimy immoral crook!
ReplyDeleteAlso the articles that cite others who were born outside the US that ran for president:
two facts - ALL Republican, and none were actually elected so Suprem court never had to rule on the issue and what natural born really means.
Gad! That smarmy face ALWAYS reminds me of what Uriah Heep would look like. And he is considered one of the most disgusting characters in literature!
ReplyDeleteCoincidence? Just look at that "butter wouldn't melt in my mouth" face, YUCK!
Actually, he bears an uncanny resemblance to my ex-husband, the convicted felony rapist & child-diddler. He portrayed himself as uber-religious, too.
DeleteUriah Heep, ahahahaaa, he exactly does!!
Delete"I'm a very 'umble man, but I've got a lot of power."....
Please God, please God, nooooo!!!!
I always think of scones with raisins.
DeleteBut did his mother renounce that citizenship to become a Canadian citizen? Then, did they all decide they wanted to become Americans again?
ReplyDeleteTed's story is his daddy came to USA in 1957 but didn't become a US citizen until 2005. It took him daddy 48 years to decide he liked the USA although some of those years were spent in Canada.
DeleteThere is no legal consensus that Cruz is "natural born." Lawrence O'Donnell covered it last week in his show; it needs to be litigated.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally TalkungPointsMemo.com revealed that Cruz' parents were listed as a voters in Canada in 1974; at that time, you could not vote in Canada with dual citizenship. It usually took years to become listed, so she technically could have only had citizenship in Canada, where Cruz was bornin 1970. It is a big mess. Cruz has a lot of enemies in the GOP; this definitely is NOT over. Cruz only renounced his Canadian citizenship last year.
If Cruz Is the nominee,they'll lose. Dump wont be the nominee because the Gop hates him.
DeleteThey'll all drop away from one disease or another, and Jeb Bush will run. And certainly beat Hillary. I'll bet a quarter.
Delete@9:08 - Seriously, if you think Jeb! can beat Hillary, I'd like to make A LOT of bets with you for more than a quarter & sell you some swampland, too.
DeleteIf they need someone to step forward as the plaintiff in the litigation, I volunteer.
DeleteIsn't there an additional controversy? His mother took Canadian citizenship at a time when dual citizenship was not permitted, which would mean that she lost her American citizenship.
ReplyDeleteBut did she do it before or after he was born.
DeleteHe wouldn't have dual citizenship if she had renounced hers.
Unless someone lied or screwed up.
If as an American citizen you give birth to a child outside of the US, you must file with the authorities within a certain time frame. Otherwise, we would have countless unknown "natural born" American citizens living abroad.
ReplyDeleteI married a US serviceman. We had one child born in the UK, at a mlitary hospital and another born in Germany at a military hospital. Both are considered US citizens, and have US passports. Births were registered by the hospital at the US Embassies in those countries.We were told my daughter had dual citizenship in the UK until the age of 18, then she could chose. She did nothing, so she is a US citizen.
DeleteYour child being born on a military base would automatically have those papers filed. HELLO!
Delete@66gardeners -- Did you not comprehend what the poster wrote?
Delete"Births were registered by the hospital at the US Embassies in those countries."
HELLO! yourself.
Military personnel have different rules than regular citizens regarding overseas births.
DeleteI apologize for speed reading the post and misunderstanding the post. Hello and Peace.
DeleteMilitary bases are counted as US soil, so a child born on a US military base to American parents is automatically an American citizen.
DeleteHis mother having been born in the US does not automatically confer the ability to pass along her citizenship: "If one parent is not a U.S. citizen, the U.S. citizen parent must have lived in the United States for a specific period of time before the child was born to transmit citizenship" (If one parent is a U.S. citizen, the U.S. citizen parent must have resided in the U.S. for 10 years, at least 5 of which were after age 14). Also, did she become a Canadian citizen? She also failed to apply for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad for him.
ReplyDeleteNow, she may very well have been eligible to have passed on her citizenship to him--but perhaps not. And, he can spend a lot of time proving that he really is a citizen.
Archie Butt
Exactly. If Cruz's mother failed to file a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, Ted would not be a natural-born citizen. He was naturalized at the time he moved to the US years later.
DeleteWell, he renounced his Canadian citizenship. If it turns out he's not a U.S. citizen either, he is totally screwed. A man without a country.
DeleteThe issue isn't only where she was born. That she was born in the U.S. isn't and has never been in doubt. The issue Grayson should be raising is if she became a Canadian citizen after moving to Canada and before whelping her foul son. She appeared on a double-checked list of eligible Canadian voters that year, according to TPM.
ReplyDeleteHe's already on that. That's pretty much what The Donald is referring to when he talks about the Dems suing Cruz should he become the nominee. Grayson has already stated he plans to do just that. I suspect there are several ducks just sitting in a row, waiting for their chance to quack.
DeleteCruz wasn't whelped! He's such a reptile he was either hatched or born under a rock.
DeleteOr cooked up in a vat with the other Repugnantcan orcs.
DeleteOK...the big question here is that both his parents appear on Canadian voter rolls the year of his birth. Reportedly, both parents became Canadian citizens while they were living there; in fact Papa Cruz never became an American citizen until 2005. SO, if Eleanor pledged allegiance to Canada during those 8 years, Teddy is NOT eligible to run for anything here, including his Senate seat. He must be worried to be producing this long sought after paper now. Alan Grayson has filed a suit in federal court questioning Cruz' status. This will be interesting.
ReplyDeleteThere is no "natural born" requirement to hold a Senate seat.
DeleteThanks, 6:47. You beat me to it. The ONLY office with that special restriction is the Presidency. Evidence the time Henry Kissenger was Secretary of State under (Pardon me while I barf!) Nixon.
DeleteOT-You don't have to be a lawyer to be a
DeleteSupreme Court Justice either..
n making Rafael "Ted" Cruz an illegal alien.
DeleteAt the time she voted in Canada they did not recognize dual citizenship
And even if they did she would not be a dual citizen since the US doesn't allow dual citizenship.
While Canada now allows dual citizenship ( I have dual citizenship) you must be Canadian first, then be born of another US citizen ( can't be the same parent pretending to be both).
since the US doesn't allow dual citizenship
Delete------
Not true, the US frowns upon dual citizenship, but it is allowed.
One does not have to be 'natural born' to be a senator, but one does have to be a citizen. Questions about Cruz's mother's citizenship at the time of his birth raise doubts about the legitimacy of his citizenship.
DeleteI'm am loving this.
DeleteAlan Grayson is not everyone's cup of tea.
But I am all for this and I am glad he has taken the point on this.
Maybe, just maybe the following information needs to be fully investigated.
ReplyDeleteFor persons born between December 24, 1952 and November 14, 1986, a person is a U.S. citizen if all of the following are true:[10]
The person's parents were married at the time of birth
One of the person's parents was a U.S. citizen when the person was born
The citizen parent lived at least ten years in the United States before the child's birth;
A minimum of 5 of these 10 years in the United States were after the citizen parent's 14th birthday.
For persons born out of wedlock, the person is a U.S. citizen if all the following apply:
the mother was a U.S. citizen at the time of the person's birth and
the mother was physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for a continuous period of one year prior to the person's birth.[11] (See link for those born to a U.S. father out of wedlock)[10]
If a child is born abroad and is not born on a US military base, a report need to be filed with the US gov't, seeking natural-born citizenship.
DeleteThe citizen parent lived at least ten years in the United States before the child's birth;
Delete----------
when and how long was she in Canada?- we don't know
also the question about her being on voter registration in Canada and whether she gave up her citizenship are very good ones.
Hopefully The Donald will jump right on this and we can say goodbye to Canadian Cruz.
Cruz meanwhile can prepare his campaign to run for Prime Minister of Canada, oops he renounced his citizenship.
Well there is always Cuba.
Yeah, but how conscientious would they be about the facts? Is it possible Cruz's mother applied for citizenship for her son even though she had already renounced her citizenship? I think that is the point here. If she had already renounced and become a Canadian citizen at the time of his birth, he is Canadian, not a U.S. citizen and has no grounds to apply for such.
DeleteOh man. What will this do to the GOP if they find out they are running a Canadian citizen and illegal alien as their nominee for president of the United States?
Makes the darkly tanned guy already in office look pretty good, doesn't it?
I thought that both of Cruz' parents became Canadian citizens at a time when Canada did not recognize dual citizenship. If that is the case, his mother could have been born on the top of Mt. Rushmore but, if she changed her citizenship, would not have been an American, native born or not, at the time her son was born. Very confusing but someone has to clarify what Canada's laws were at the time of Cruz' birth and what the citizenship status of his parents was at that time.
ReplyDeleteBealemom
According to Canada's naturalization paperwork, both of Ted Cruz's parents were Canadian citizens at the time of his birth. Ted Cruz was born in Canada. That makes him a natural-born Canadian citizen.
ReplyDeleteOOOOoooo. Sucks to be him.
DeleteNot only is he now disqualified to be president, I think he's also disqualified to be a Senator and an illegal alien. Now he's married to a U.S. citizen so he can get in line and apply for citizenship just like everyone else.
But no more presidential candidate and probably no more senator either.
Man, it's gonna suck to be him.
GO ALAN GRAYSON!
No one wants to see El Cruzo Cabron shot down more than the Repubs themselves. They pretty much hate him.
ReplyDeleteIf you read the comments at the pee pond, Cruz is hated by them as well.
DeleteEvery time I see the above picture of Cruz, I think he looks like he's crapping his pants,
ReplyDeleteThat particular picture is -- repulsive? At the moment I can't think of a better word to describe it. Cruz is just smarmy.
DeleteKind of funny Obama wasn't forced to provide his until he had been president for a couple years.
ReplyDeleteKind of funny that Obama was actually born in the USA.
DeleteHow is not possible for these birthers to understand that Hawaii is the 50th state in the union?
Delete@Anonymous6:04 AM,
DeleteLet me help you out here, shit for brains.
Senator Obama produced a perfectly legitimate copy of his birth certificate, issued by the government of Hawaii, during his campaign. It is identical to the Hawaiian government issued birth certificate I have for my son and that is provided for any Hawaiian born citizen who needs a copy of their birth certificate.
He never held back his birth certificate. Ever.
The fucking worthless, stupid, ignorant, racist pieces of shit that couldn't stand the idea of a black man in the White House drummed their heels on the floor throwing tantrum after tantrum until their idiotic demands for the "long form" were met, a requirement not made of any other candidate.
And then of course, they weren't satisfied anyway. Because the President stubbornly remained black.
The only difference between my son's birth certificate and the President's is that no one would ever in a million years question my white, red-headed, blue-eyed son's US citizenship or birthplace, or claim that he must have been born in Ireland, not the United States.
Well Nefer. That depends.
DeleteIs his Father an Irish Citizen?
Is his name Seamus O'Connor or something like that?
He doesn't look Hawai'ian to me.
(snort).
Wouldn't I make a dandy Republican?
I read this at TPM which was interesting. Once more a blog commenter had the goods!
ReplyDeleteThe Cruz campaign apparently got Brietbart to advance refudiate the TPM story and maybe that's why we suddenly got to see Canada Cruz's mother's birth certificate.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/so-that-was-weird
"Back in September 2013 we got an email from a TPM Reader with a subscription to Ancestry.com who'd decided to poke around to see about Ted Cruz. TPM Reader JR had come up with a 1974 voter list that appeared to show that not only Ted Cruz's father Rafael was a Canadian citizen (that's part of the public record) but that his mother Eleanor was too."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/ted-cruz-mother-canadian-voter-list
I have no idea what to believe, especially since I think the entire Cruz clan might be RWNJs Lying for Jesus to put Ted the Turd into the White House!
I don't believe liars, as a rule. Cruz is a liar, and tweeted about spanking his 5 year-old for lying. So he's got another scandal going as well.
DeleteCruz's mother's birth certificate does NOT mean Cruz is "natural born". There are LAWS that clarify "natural born". It does get complicated when a person is born outside the territory of the United States. A good starting point for understanding the law is
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural-born-citizen_clause
Cruz's mother being born in the US means Cruz may have been eligible for natural born citizenship. It is not automatic unless you are born on a US military base.
DeleteCruz' birth certificate might list his mother as a Canadian citizen.
DeleteSome of these right-wingers want to believe that President Obama was born in Kenya and they insist he is not eligible to run as POTUS. Yet, their man Cruz admits that he was born in Canada, and they have no problem with it, even though both mothers (Obama and Cruz) were U.S. citizens.
ReplyDeleteThis is all about race.
The Kenya accusation against President Barack Obama is about both race and religion.
DeleteKenya also has scary muslims and black militants.
Interesting how constitutional scholars argue that the Founding Fathers did not explicitly define what was meant by 'natural-born citizen'. This, the article says, leaves room for debate.
ReplyDeleteA good standard to measure by is to look at their fruit. Did the founding fathers really believe all men were equal and had the same rights written in the Declaration of Independence? How could they write these things while, at home, they were forcing slaves from their freedoms, and keeping slaves that they bought for free labor? Were these slaves considered equals?
It would appear that some of the Founding Fathers didn't believe that all men were equal. Were they just suggesting that all WHITE men were equal?
They were trying to stop Hamilton from being President.
DeleteHow do we know that Mrs. Cruz actually "birthed" Ted and didn't adopt him? Could an American citizen adopt a foreign child and make him a natural born citizen?
ReplyDeleteThat is why we need to see Ted's birth certificate.
DeleteDon't worry, the Republican machine will expose Cruz for what he is.
DeleteDid the Cruz' file a tax return with the U.S. while they lived in Canada? U.S. citizens that live anywhere in the world (from what I always heard) are required by U.S. law to file a tax return in the U.S. declaring all income.
ReplyDeleteOOPS!!!
DeleteThe Obama "birther' conspiracy was largely spread by a Hillary Clinton supporter in 2008.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/8478044/Birther-row-began-with-Hillary-Clinton.html
No, she has denied that,
DeleteThat is a Trump talking point. She denies it & Politifact says she did not start it: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/sep/23/donald-trump/hillary-clinton-obama-birther-fact-check/
Deleteif she was not a citizen at time of teddie's birth he is not a US citizen and must be deported.
ReplyDeletehe is not a US citizen and must be deported.
DeleteWhat country would take him?
Which country does the US want to destroy that badly?
LOL. He'd have to beg the Canadians for his citizenship back after he made a big deal of renouncing it.
DeleteI can't stand Trump ( or any of the republican nominees). I would rather he became the republican nominee than Cruz. So least it would be a good laugh.
ReplyDeleteGlad you recognize the gravity of electing a President.
DeleteReagan, W Bush, then Palin took all gravity from modern presidential elections. Obama has restored a bit but all current Republican candidates drag it right down again
DeleteChatter on the internets suggest his mommy and his daddy were Canadian citizens when he was born. There was no such thing as dual citizenship at that time. that leaves wittle Teddy Bear sitting at the Canadian curb.
ReplyDeleteWhere is the proof that his mother was a CITIZEN when she gave birth to the slimy s-cruz bucket?
ReplyDeleteThat is the million vote question.
DeleteHe is going to have to prove that she was a U.S. citizen when he was born and that he was legally entitled to that dual citizenship until he renounced the Canadian one.
If the voter records or tax records go against him, he's screwed. Not only will be be disqualified for running for president, but he'll also instantly be relieved of his job as a senator and may even be extradited as an illegal alien until such a time as he can get a green card as the spouse of a U.S. citizen.
Couldn't happen to a more deserving sleazebag.
I suspect if Cruz is selected to be the candidate for POTUS, by the Republican party, that someone (a Democrat) will file a lawsuit in order to have the matter legally rectified by the Supreme Court.
ReplyDeleteAre Trump and Cruz really working (behind the scenes) on this matter? If one or the other of them is picked to be the candidate to run, will that person pick the other to run with them on the ticket? It would not surprise me at all!
Every time I see the popular media parrot "scholars agree that Cruz is a natural born citizen" I scream at the TV or newspaper "NO THEY DO NOT!" As one commenter noted above, Lawrence O'Donnell has had two scholars on this past week who agree that the issue is NOT settled. No court has ever squarely addressed the question. I will take things one step further and say that even if Cruz's mother was a US Citizen (setting aside the question of renouncing her US citizenship to vote in Canada), Ted Cruz is NOT a natural born citizen and is not eligible to be president of the US.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to lay out a complex and nuanced legal position in the popular media, let alone in a blog like this, but I will give it a brief try. I have some expertise in this subject, having researched the question as a lawyer on behalf of someone thinking of running for president many years ago. So here goes.
"No person excepting a natural born citizen ... shall be eligible to the office of President." US Const. Art II, Sec. 1. No, "natural born" does not mean vaginal delivery or without in-virto fertilization. But what does it mean? Since the Constitution does not explicitly say, we must determine what its authors meant at the time it was written. Here is a link to very thorough article by Prof. Mary Brigid McMananamon in the Catholic Univ. Law Review concluding that "natural born" means on the physical soil of the United States, and concluding that Cruz is not a natural born citizen.
http://scholarship.law.edu/lawreview/vol64/iss2/6/
See? Scholars do NOT agree! OK now, people say "but if your parent is a citizen, and you are born abroad, then you are a citizen at birth, and so also "natural born". This is what Cruz says, and what several commenters above say (eg. "I was born on a military base in Germany and am a citizen"). A citizen yes, but sorry, not a natural born citizen.
There are two ways to be a citizen, spelled out in the 14th Amendment: "All persons BORN or NATURALIZED in the United States ... are citizens of the United States. ..."
So, if you BORN in the US, you are a "natural born citizen". If you are born somewhere else, you can be NATURALIZED by virtue of an act of Congress. And indeed, Congress has provided, almost from day one, that persons born abroad whose father, or mother and father, or either (it has changed over time)is a US citizen. But they are a NATURALIZED citizen because their citizenship derives from an act of Congress, not a NATURAL BORN citizen because they were not born on US soil. The Supreme Court has said this explicitly:
"A person born out of the jurisdiction of the US can only become a citizen by being naturalized... by authority of Congress, as in the enactment conferring citizenship upon foreign-born children of citizens..." (Wong Kim Ark, 169 US 649, 1898)
So, assuming Ted Cruz' mother was a US Citizen at the time of Ted's birth in Canada, Ted became a NATURALIZED citizen at his birth by virtue of the then-current naturalization statute, but is not a NATURAL BORN citizen because he was not born on US soil. He is not eligible to be president.
Thank you. Very informative.
DeleteSo John McCain was natural born because he was technically born on US soil? Or was he actually ineligible too?
And it seems that Mitt Romney's father would clearly have been ineligible because he was born in Mexico.
McCain was born on a military base while his father was stationed in Panama so he is still considered born on U.S. soil and natural born. That goes for any child born on a military base.
DeleteI can see this going all the way to the Supremes. I hope they do it soon before the election. Not that Cruz would win but no taking chances we might be stuck with whatever fascist bozo he would pick as a running mate.
I don't know, it's not enough proof if you ask me. Did they vote in Canadian Elections? Go to Hockey games? Pledge Allegiance to Cananda? I want Trump to send his team to Canada and do some digging. Where's the birth certificate for Teddy and Daddy and any other fruit of his loins? I want a full investigation, and I want Trump to make Canada pay for it. How about a Ben Ghazi type witch hunt????
ReplyDeleteSauce for the gander.
ReplyDeleteObama was born in this country to a U.S. mother, but he's ineligible because his father was Kenyan, and yet Cruz is eligible because he has a U.S. mother even though he was born in Canada.
John McCain was born in Panama but they never doubted his eligibility.
So according to them both parents have to be U.S. citizens? Well, that lets out Cruz then, doesn't it? But Obama was born in the U.S. So you need to be born in the U.S. right? Well, then that let's McCain out.
And wasn't Rmoney's Dad born in Mexico?
Hypocrites. The Republican party is a party of hypocrites and the mentally challenged.